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ComicArtAds auction preview--Heritage weekly auction ending 6/16/19
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31 posts in this topic

9 hours ago, Lee B. said:

Nice work Rick!  Watch out, you're going to put me out of business.  I didn't nail very many of my predictions for today, but I was most off-base with the Ms. Marvel #4 page, which went for more than twice my estimate.  Is there a movie coming out or something? 

What disappointed me more was something I wanted on Catawiki, that home of European soft porn. 

It was this one, which went for a little over $2,700, when the pre-bid estimates of the experts was in the $200-$400 range. So don't feel badly, they really blew it.

By French comic artist Antonio Lapone, who I never heard of before the auction but is apparently a leader in something called the "Ligne claire" (clear line) school of art (like Tin-Tin), it combines two of my favorite things: the art of Piet Mondrian and women (but not in that order). The only reason I didn't bid really high is that the page is only about the size of a piece of paper, and a Mondrian work, which this piece incorporates (upper left corner) and honors really needs space to breath properly. I thought the sense of balance from completely disparate elements to be superb, and the blending of the style with Art Deco (the period when Mondrian was at his peak) to be wonderful. 

 

43272ed1-fe33-47da-a3bc-805027339e4d.jpg

 

 

6d63e8d9-b4e7-4066-a500-cadccde7684e.jpg

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6 hours ago, Rick2you2 said:

What disappointed me more was something I wanted on Catawiki, that home of European soft porn. 

It was this one, which went for a little over $2,700, when the pre-bid estimates of the experts was in the $200-$400 range. So don't feel badly, they really blew it.

By French comic artist Antonio Lapone, who I never heard of before the auction but is apparently a leader in something called the "Ligne claire" (clear line) school of art (like Tin-Tin), it combines two of my favorite things: the art of Piet Mondrian and women (but not in that order). The only reason I didn't bid really high is that the page is only about the size of a piece of paper, and a Mondrian work, which this piece incorporates (upper left corner) and honors really needs space to breath properly. I thought the sense of balance from completely disparate elements to be superb, and the blending of the style with Art Deco (the period when Mondrian was at his peak) to be wonderful. 

 

43272ed1-fe33-47da-a3bc-805027339e4d.jpg

 

 

6d63e8d9-b4e7-4066-a500-cadccde7684e.jpg

I buy a lot of European art...a girl like that was never going to be $200ish. I dig Mondrian too (not written lightly either), but not on this piece, I'm not seeing the balance that you describe...the two styles, as presented clash. I can think of other, better ways to pull off the same theme (a good one btw) without clashing.

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5 hours ago, vodou said:

I buy a lot of European art...a girl like that was never going to be $200ish. I dig Mondrian too (not written lightly either), but not on this piece, I'm not seeing the balance that you describe...the two styles, as presented clash. I can think of other, better ways to pull off the same theme (a good one btw) without clashing.

The girl is the least of the art, and I what I was mentioning was referenced in the initial listing (long gone once bidding opened)

Regarding the balance: the upper left corner with the Mondrian, and all its white space balances out with the dark space in the area under the woman's butt (but more compactly). The blue rectangle in the lower left corner balances with the blue triangle in the Mondrian. Then, the red table holding the phone balances against the red and white rectangle behind the woman which picks up the small red triange in the Mondrian. Together, they force the viewer's attention to the woman in the middle. And since the "objects" are all very different in size, they are not even noticed as they pull the piece together. Try covering over the little blue rectangle, and the balance isn't there anymore. But if you tried to add something like it in the upper right corner, it would stick out like a sore thumb. 

It's also cool the way the phone, an inherently 3D object, sits on an object which is decidedly 2D.

On a different note, I think I have known some women like that who could be had for $200ish. Bdum bum.

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5 hours ago, Lee B. said:

Hi all!  I just posted a new bunch of predictions for the Heritage weekly auction ending on 3/31/19, along with some lovely old art ad images.  You can see it all here:

http://comicartads.com/content/heritage-weekly-auction-ending-33119

Thanks, and enjoy!  Best, Lee

Always fun to read. I do want to mention that Aparo Phantom Stranger pages are continuing to drop, which is not really surprising given how much has been coming up lately. I recently saw one nice page on Heritage going for less than $900. I would not be surprised if the typical page continues to drop, above $500 but below $900. I am curious if other Aparo art has also dropped in the last 6 months.

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On 3/28/2019 at 6:25 PM, Rick2you2 said:

Always fun to read. I do want to mention that Aparo Phantom Stranger pages are continuing to drop, which is not really surprising given how much has been coming up lately. I recently saw one nice page on Heritage going for less than $900. I would not be surprised if the typical page continues to drop, above $500 but below $900. I am curious if other Aparo art has also dropped in the last 6 months.

Well, two more Aparo/ Phantom Stranger pages were just sold on Heritage, and both were within my predicted ranges.

This one went for $510, with Heritage's Premium on top, for a total of $612.50. About 4 months ago, it had sold on Clink for about $450. Adding in what Heritage charges Sellers, and this one broke barely better than even (and only in the last 2 + hours of bidding):

Original Comic Art:Panel Pages, Jim Aparo Phantom Stranger #15 Story Page 14 Original Art(DC, 1971)....

 

This one just sold for $650, plus Heritage's Premium, for a total of $780:

 

Original Comic Art:Panel Pages, Jim Aparo Phantom Stranger #10 Story Page 6 Original Art(DC, 1970)....

Last June, this one sold for $1,912 with the Buyer's Premium and it's slightly better but comparable, I think, in quality (as wells just preceding it in the book):

Jim Aparo Phantom Stranger #10 Story Page 9 Original Art (DC, 1970)

 

Bottom line: I think the Aparo boom in prices, for at least run-of-the-mill pages, has run its course and is crashing back to a more modest range (given the raw volume of pages and age of the page). Extra nice pages can always carry a special premium, as can different subjects.

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Nice Aparo analysis Rick!  I have decided to take a break from Aparo analysis in my columns as you have it well in hand.  Also, it seems like you have a candidate for the "Flip of the Day" thread, although maybe that was more of a flop.  It is definitely predictable to see the Aparo market calming down as Heritage continues to offer a few solid-quality pages each week.  Whether prices will dip below the "modest range" remains to be seen, but that can happen when a collector decides to sell off a stack of pages by a particular artist or title within a matter of months.  Best, Lee

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11 minutes ago, Lee B. said:

Nice Aparo analysis Rick!  I have decided to take a break from Aparo analysis in my columns as you have it well in hand.  Also, it seems like you have a candidate for the "Flip of the Day" thread, although maybe that was more of a flop.  It is definitely predictable to see the Aparo market calming down as Heritage continues to offer a few solid-quality pages each week.  Whether prices will dip below the "modest range" remains to be seen, but that can happen when a collector decides to sell off a stack of pages by a particular artist or title within a matter of months.  Best, Lee

Thanks, Lee, particularly coming from the Master.

A few other brief comments. First, I don’t know if this applies to non-Phantom Stranger art, although I suspect it does. Second, these are basically average pages. There have not been any really good splash pages or covers where prices may be disproportionately higher. The character just doesn’t lend itself well to splashes (full page), so they are rare. And, pages without PS in them have been available for less than $500, so if someone wants a cheap example from an excellent artist, it can be had.

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Hi all!  I found some time to write up some new auction predictions for this week's Heritage auction.  Lots of interesting art this week, including Zeck Spider-Man, Starlin Dr. Strange, and an Estrada Wonder Woman splash.  You can read it all here:

http://www.comicartads.com/content/heritage-weekly-auction-ending-61619

Thanks, Lee

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